One of the marquee games on Pitt's basketball schedule this season is a Dec. 20 date against Duke at Madison Square Garden.

But many Pitt fans wanting to purchase game tickets through the school are being told by the university ticket office that they cannot.

Pitt is limiting ticket sales to the game to its Panther Club members, an exclusive group of around 5,500 people who donate to the university's athletic department.

Pitt is holding firm on its policy. Sports information director E.J. Borghetti said the ticket-selling policy for neutral site games is not new. He said Pitt conducts a similar sales restriction for games at the Big East tournament every year.

"We're making sure our loyal season-ticket holders have the first opportunities at the tickets," Pitt interim athletic director Donna Sanft said yesterday.

Pitt was allotted 3,000 tickets, which it plans to sell to Panther Club members. If tickets remain, Pitt will open sales to its season-ticket holders for all sports and to alumni association members Oct. 22, but not to the general public.

Duke is selling tickets through its Web site (www.goduke.com). Associate athletic director Mike Cragg said Duke's ticket sales are usually restricted to Duke alumni and donors for neutral-site games, although he did not know the specifics for the Dec. 20 game or whether Pitt fans would be able to get tickets through Duke.

For now, it appears Pitt fans must wait until Madison Square Garden has its general sale. MSG is expected to begin selling tickets to the game next week. Fans can call Ticketmaster or go to msg.com to purchase tickets at that time.

Even though the game is being played at a neutral site, Duke is the de facto home team. The Blue Devils were given the majority of tickets to sell for the game.

Duke has an arrangement with MSG to play in New York or New Jersey every year. This is the fifth consecutive year Duke is playing at Madison Square Garden or the Meadowlands. The Blue Devils have played Texas twice, Oklahoma and Gonzaga in previous games.

Cragg said the Blue Devils schedule games in Madison Square Garden every year because New York City has Duke's highest concentration of alumni and because the raucous crowd helps create an NCAA tournament atmosphere.

"I think both schools will be well-represented," said Cragg, who added that Pitt received more tickets to sell than any other school that previously played in the game. "It's been a terrific arrangement for us and our fans. Every game there has been a great atmosphere. It recreates what happens in March. You have fans on both sides, and you have that back-and-forth NCAA atmosphere."

Duke is 15-5 at Madison Square Garden under coach Mike Krzyzewski, including a six-game winning streak. Eight of the previous 14 games have drawn 19,000 or more fans.